Need to vent:

What a mess. About 120 miles from home, on way from Milwaukee to Minneapolis, the engine started making a high pitched continuous chirping sound. I pulled off the highway into a gas station and saw steam coming from the engine and the car gushing coolant from under the engine. I know it was coolant because it had a sweet smell and the coolant reservoir was below min and dropping. The compartment looked like something had been spattering on it but no visual damage from that vantage point. There was nothing unusual showing on my gauges before I stopped the car. There was only that noise to alert me something was wrong.

Car is no longer in warranty so I called my insurance roadside assistance and after two hours a flat bed showed up and towed me to the nearest Porsche dealer, 60 miles away. It was already closed and service wouldn't be open until Monday. I left the key and all the info in the after hours drop box. We then took a cab from there to the nearest airport and rented a car to drive back to Milwaukee.

Car only has 28K miles on it and recently had the 60K check (due to age) and everything was tip-top. I know it must be a fluke, but it certainly will be costly after everything is added up.

I'm sure I will hear form the service guy today. What a mess.

Done venting.

 

Water pump failure?

 

Sounds like water pump, maybe ~1k to repair? Sorry!

 

Nice work guys...water pump indeed.

$1065 to replace.

 

These damn water pumps! My 2009 C2S has 33k miles and I'm planning on replacing it at 40k miles. I wander if the 2009 water pump is the same as the 997.1. Good luck with the fix.

 

I just replaced mine at 55k tho I may replace again at after 40k.

Nor that I did have to remove the exhaust to replace that darn thing.

 

sorry, do 997.1 and 997.2 s have issues with these water pumps?

 

They do right around 60k.

 

Previous owner replaced mine at 30K. One less thing to worry (less) about for a while, at least.

 

2009 Porsche 997.2. Just purchased an extended warranty through my dealership. Ahh...peace of mind is a great thing.

 

Replaced mine (997.1) at 43K

 

I currently have CPO, but I would like to change it as preventive. I'm afraid that I won't notice the pump failing until its too late. What do you guys think?

 

It was pretty clear that something was wrong. The engine started making a high pitched whistle/chirping kind of noise on the highway that I could hear over a loud radio. I still had plenty of coolant by the time I stopped. There is no further damage done to the car or engine as a result.

Now, you may consider having to go through what I did as "too late", which is reasonable. My "too late" is damage beyond the water pump.

 

Do you mind sharing what those extended warranties run?

 

Pump will make a noise and/or would start dripping a little bit of coolant.

Warranties are great. However, the unexpected breakdowns and your personal time are the ones that still matter to me. Don't get me wrong: warranty is great since it's almost $0.00 to the owner at breakdown.